The ACLU of North Carolina has forced a House Representative’s hand in a battle over public records.

Rep. Beverly Boswell (R-Beaufort) “decided to” release her unredacted emails after Kitty Hawk resident filed a lawsuit. She had initially refused to release anything, then later released documents concealing the identity of everyone her office communicated with.

The full release comes more than a year after one of her constituents, Craig Merrill, first asked for public records of phone and email correspondence between her office and the residents and businesses she represents in North Carolina House District 6, which includes parts of Beaufort, Dare, Hyde, and Washington counties.

The ACLU filed the public records lawsuit on behalf of Merrill in January.

“We are glad that Representative Boswell finally agreed to do the right thing and stop hiding who she was communicating with about the public’s business,” said Chris Brook, Legal Director of the ACLU of N.C. “North Carolinians deserve transparency from their elected officials – and the law requires it.”

In a letter addressed to Brook about the records release, the special deputy attorney general who represents Boswell, Olga Vysotskaya de Brito, said the lawmaker “made a decision to disclose the in-redacted set of documents” Merril requested.

They also filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The motion essentially states the case is moot and should be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

In a motion for summary judgment filed last month, the ACLU said that there was no legal justification for Boswell to conceal who she and her office were corresponding with on matters related to her work as a public official on issues including the Outer Banks plastic bag ban.

Many of the documents Boswell provided contain the following message: “Email correspondence to and from this address is subject to North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.”

“The public deserves to know how our representatives are conducting business on our behalf so that we can hold them accountable,” Merrill said. “I am glad my representative has finally agreed to follow the law, but it never should have taken more than a year and a lawsuit for her to do the right thing and be open about her work with a constituent.”

Brook said Wednesday that Boswell provided the unredacted records after they filed a motion for summary judgment arguing that Merrill was legally entitled to know who she was corresponding with on matters of public interest.

“Put another way, Representative Boswell only provided unredacted records after we made plain that we would continue pursuing the matter in court,” he said. “The ACLU-NC has not agreed to dismiss the lawsuit as it is not yet fully resolved. The state Public Records Act entitles individuals who substantially prevail in public records litigation to receive attorneys’ fees. We will be seeking fees to recover money spent litigating a case that we offered Representative Boswell every opportunity to resolve prior to filing a lawsuit.”